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NGC 3077

NGC 3077 is a small but bright peculiar galaxy about 45' east-southeast of the magnificient spiral galaxy M81 in Ursa Major, which has an equally dynamic companion, M82 (The Cigar Galaxy).
In the mid-nineteenth century, NGC 3077 was thought to be either an irregular lenticular (I0) galaxy or a peculiar mixed spiral lenticular galaxy (SAB0p). Today we know NGC 3077 is a nearby dwarf starburst galaxy with a true linear extent of 20'000 light-years at a distance of about 12.5 million light-years.

In this deep exposed image, many similarities to M82 become obvious. Specifically a couple of red jets near the center are clearly visable.